2016 Insectivorous bats carry host specific astroviruses and coronaviruses across different regions in Germany

9 Pages·2016·1.06 MB·English

Research paper

Insectivorous bats carry host specific astroviruses and coronaviruses
across different regions in Germany

Kerstin Fischer a, Veronika Zeus b, Linda Kwasnitschka a, Gerald Kerth b, Martin Haase c,
Martin H. Groschup a, Anne Balkema-Buschmann a,⁎

a Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Suedufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
b Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Johann Sebastian Bach-Str. 11/12, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
c Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Soldmannstraße 23, 17489 Greifswald, Germany

a b s t r a c t
a r t i c l e
i n f o

Article history:
Received 2 June 2015
Received in revised form 21 October 2015
Accepted 12 November 2015
Available online 14 November 2015

Keywords:
Insectivore bats
Astroviruses
Coronaviruses
Paramyxoviruses
Host specificity

Recently several infectious agents with a zoonotic potential have been detected in different bat species. However,
there is still a lack of knowledge on the transmission dynamics within and between bat species, as well as from
bats to other mammals. To better understand these processes, it is important to compare the phylogenetic
relationships between different agents to that of their respective hosts. In this study, we analysed more than
950 urine, faeces and oral swab samples collected from 653 bats from mainly four species (Myotis nattereri,
Myotis bechsteinii, Myotis daubentonii, and Plecotus auritus) for the presence of coronavirus, paramyxovirus and
astrovirus related nucleic acids located in three different regions of Germany. Using hemi-nested reverse
transcriptase (RT)-PCR amplification of fragments within the highly conserved regions of the respective RNA
dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) genes, we detected astrovirus sequences at an overall detection rate of
25.8% of the analysed animals, with a maximum of 65% in local populations. The detection rates for coronaviruses
and paramyxoviruses were distinctly lower, ranging between 1.4% and 3.1%. Interestingly, the sequence
similarities in samples collected from the same bat species in different geographical areas were distinctly larger
than the sequence similarities between samples from different species sampled at the same location. This
indicates that host specificity may be more important than host ecology for the presence of certain viruses in bats.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Since the majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans have
their origin in animals (Wolfe et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2008), improving
our understanding of the mechanisms underlying interspecies trans-
missions is of major importance. Bats are of particular interest in this re-
spect for a number of reasons: Firstly, they represent almost 20% of all
recognised mammalian species, forming the second largest mammalian
order after rodents, with more than 1300 different bat species distribut-
ed almost worldwide (Moratelli and Calisher, 2015). Secondly, bats har-
bour a large variety of viruses. Mostly in tropical regions, bats have been
identified as reservoir hosts of some highly pathogenic and zoonotic
viruses such as rabies virus, Ebola and Marburg viruses, Hendra and
Nipah viruses, and coronaviruses including severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS)-like and middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS)-
like coronaviruses (Burns et al., 1958; O'Shea et al., 2014; Smith and

Wang, 2013; Calisher et al., 2006). For European bat species, several
studies revealed a broad variety of viruses by examining samples of
various species, mostly using molecular detection methods, e.g. astro-
viruses, coronaviruses, herpes viruses, picornaviruses and paramyxovi-
ruses in insectivorous bats from Germany, Hungary and Italy (Wibbelt
et al., 2007; Drexler et al., 2011; Kurth et al., 2012; Kemenesi et al.,
2014, 2015; Lelli et al., 2012). Except for lyssaviruses and potentially
orthoreoviruses, however, there is no proof to date of any pathogenicity
of European bat viruses to humans (Kohl et al., 2012; Lelli et al., 2013;
Steyer et al., 2013). Thirdly, bats are very gregarious and the vast major-
ity of all species form colonies, which can reach enormous numbers and
densities of individuals during certain periods of the year (Kerth, 2008).
This could facilitate the spread of viruses within bat populations.
Fourthly, due to their ability to fly, several bat species are potentially ca-
pable of spreading viruses over large distances (species specific dispers-
al distances range from dozens to hundreds of kilometres, Dietz et al.,
2007). Finally, bats often share roosts, such as tree cavities, with other
animals and/or settle close to humans, e.g. in roofs of houses. As a con-
sequence bats may spread viruses to other animals and to humans
(Steyer et al., 2013; Kemenesi et al., 2015).
Despite the large number of molecular virus records in temperate
zone bats, hardly anything is known about the course of infection in

Infection, Genetics and Evolution 37 (2016) 108–116

⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: